The present disclosure relates to an electronic equipment having the functions of electric power saving modes.
Some of the image forming apparatus as electronic equipments have the function of a low electric power mode, and the function of a sleep mode in which electric power consumption is smaller than in the low electric power mode, as electric power saving modes. In the sleep mode, a fixing roller is not heated. Accordingly, it is possible to remarkably reduce the electric power consumption.
In the sleep mode, however, the temperature of the fixing roller may be lowered to a temperature close to ambient temperature. Accordingly, it takes a time to recover the image forming apparatus from the sleep mode to the ready mode (i.e. an electric power mode in which printing can be readily performed in response to receiving a print instruction).
In view of the above, in the case where a print instruction is not received for a predetermined period when the image forming apparatus is in the ready mode, the image forming apparatus is switched from the ready mode to the low electric power mode, without directly switching the image forming apparatus from the ready mode to the sleep mode; and in the case where a recovery instruction indicating that the image forming apparatus is recovered to the ready mode is not received for a predetermined period when the image forming apparatus is in the low electric power mode, the image forming apparatus is switched from the low electric power mode to the sleep mode. When the image forming apparatus is in the low electric power mode, the temperature of the fixing roller is set to a temperature lower than the temperature of the fixing roller when the image forming apparatus is in the ready mode.
For instance, in the conventional art, there is proposed an image forming apparatus configured such that in the case where the image forming apparatus is switched from the ready mode to the low electric power mode, and in the case where the image forming apparatus is switched from the low electric power mode to the sleep mode, the temperature of the fixing roller is controlled to be gradually lowered in order to shorten a wait time until the image forming apparatus is recovered to the ready mode and to reduce the electric power consumption.